twentythree y.o. geographer, barista, yoga practitioner. University College London. born and bred in the lil' island of Singapore. constantly searching for answers. extremely flawed, especially when it comes to imposing standards on others, expecting too much, not knowing when to close her mouth (to shut the fuck up or to stop eating). too crazy for her own good and has to be taken with a massive handful of salt. adores backpacking, hitch-hiking, hill-walking, red wine, whiskey, cocktails, fine food and good conversations.
REMINDER:
"open your heart. someone will come. someone will come for you. but you'd have to open your heart first."
|
| Sunday, April 06, 2014
◔ 10:05 PM // ✎ 0 comment(s) | ❝ Things I Will Teach My Daughters (at age twenty) ❞ |
Found this on the net about "101 Things I Will Teach My Daughters". I didn't agree to many of the things on the list, but I attribute this to... Well I guess I haven't gone as far in life as the author of that article did. I, however, decided to create a list of things that I will tell my daughters (if I do have any), and then I will look back at this when I hit the age of 30, and etc., to see how much I have grown and matured (or become more disillusioned with life...?) and whatevs.
Things I Will Teach My Daughters (at age twenty)
1. Be free to do the wildest things that you can imagine.
This includes getting more drunk than you can imagine - because only then will you know your boundaries. This includes going backpacking on your own to what society deems as a "third world country" - because only then will you know that everything is not as scary as you think. Do the wildest things, because it is only when you are young, and free of all commitments, that you can do whatever you fucking want. Explore. And don't worry, because at the end of the day, even if you get into more trouble than you can ever imagine, I, as your mother, will definitely come to save you. Even if I will murder you in cold blood afterwards, I will definitely save you.
2. There is no such thing as "not enough time".
There is no fucking such thing, because, you know what, if you care enough about it, you will have enough time. You will find the time. If you really care about something, you will.
At the age of twenty, I have already fallen into this incredibly bad habit of sacrificing on sleep for all other commitments. That is what I have prioritized, to do all the other shit that I want to do. I will not comment on how you prioritize because that is for you to decide, but don't ever complain that you have cannot do something because you do not have "enough" time.
3. There is no such thing as "not enough money".
This has everything to do with point number 2. Not enough money? Go to work? Not enough time? Find time. No fucking time? You evidently don't care enough, so stop complaining.
4. Do not complain about being fat if you're not willing to take action.
If you think you're fat, work out, have a healthy diet. Do not sit there and sulk about being fat when you are not willing to take action. And this is in line with points 2 and 3.The gist of it is basically - "do not complain about anything that you are not willing to take action for, because if there is a will, there is a way."
Although it is a different story if you think you are "fat" when you are not. Then, I will make sure that I am there to tell you that you're not, because that's what mothers are there for. But, trust me, I will be there to tell you that you are when you are.
5. There is no such thing as an ugly woman, only a lazy woman.
This links to point 4. And it is self-explanatory.
6. Date. Date as much as you would like.
Dating, like pretty much everything else in life, comes with tonnes of experience. It is only when you have been with a good number of people that you realize who are the ones that are worth it, who are the ones that you are looking for and want to be with for the rest of your life.
You will meet a plethora of different boys / men your entire life. Date the dangerous "I knew you were trouble" bad boy, because then you realize that such boys are not worth it. Date them, because then you know how to spot them. Date the boy that was crazily in love with you, so that you know what young, childish puppy love feels like.
Most importantly, date so much that you get so tired of dating, of settling down, that you stop looking for the thrill of it. And that's when you meet a guy that you know that you want to settle down with.
7. And when you have found that person, give it your all.
You may have countless doubts about whether it will last, whether you are good enough / worthy of him, whether he will leave you / whether the two of you will meet with unforseen circumstances. Regardless, give it your all; give it your all because you will regret it even more if you don't, because you will think back wondering what you could have done better. And then it'd be too late.
8. Listen more than speak.
Listen, because there is always more to learn from someone else than you can ever learn from yourself.
9. Give thanks.
Give thanks, because no matter how fucked up you think your life is, trust me - it isn't. There is always someone out there who is worse off than you. Give thanks - give thanks for what you already have.
10. Do unto others what you want done to you.
Every time you want to complain about what you are doing for someone / what someone isn't doing for you. Think. Think about whether you have been like that / would you do the same if you were in that person's shoes? That is when you start realizing many, many things that you have taken for granted. And give thanks.
11. The best gift you can ever give to anyone is your time and your friendship.
Be there for someone, because when the time comes, you know someone will be there for you. Do not think that giving money and gifts will make up for the time and effort that you did not put in, because it will not.
12. Embrace being lonely.
You will be more lonely than you want to be. And when you feel lonely, think about the things that you can do for yourself. This is your "me" time and you can be as selfish as you want with it. And then you start to realize that you do not need attention from the rest of the world, because you, sorry to say, barely make a difference in the world (other than of course contributing to carbon emissions and using up precious non-renewable resources). Do not expect the world to care about you, because you're not that important.
13. Step out of your comfort zone.
Only when you do so that you start to get more opportunities than you think you will ever have. Step out because it is only when you do so that you broaden your pre-existing comfort zone.
14. Always verbalize what you want.
Because if you don't, and you do not get what you want, you have no one else to blame but yourself. It includes making all your worries / concerns known to the other party. Because talking things out is always better than holding it in. This includes telling the person that you like that you like him / her. It is fine if you get rejected - the first time I asked a guy out and I got rejected. You will realize that hey, rejection is not as bad as you may think it is. Your pride isn't worth that much. It is better if you make it known before it is too late, and that person gets taken, because then you will really regret.
15. And most importantly, life always goes on.
Life doesn't stop when something disappoints you. Suck it in, and keep plowing forward because life always goes on. Who knows? Whatever ahead may be even better :)
Accept what comes, release what goes, and seize the moment.
--
(I will add on to this list if anything else comes to my mind) Labels: college, daily, random, thoughts
|
|